xinoehp512

Today was a bad day.

Some bad days are because something horrible happens. Those days are, thankfully, very rare. Other bad days, however, happen because a lot of not-good stuff happens. This was one of those days.

Some people say each day is what you make of it. Maybe that's so; still, I've never been able to make a bad day go away through the power of positive thinking. Sure, I've been able to banish the darkness for a time by ignoring it, but distraction can only last for so long. And the darkness will be waiting.

I remember dreaming a thousand worlds, before. Where have they gone? Surely they cannot all be out of reach? Could there not be one the rising tide of nightmares have not swept away?

Hah. Why bother? Why be fool enough to dream, when it is so much easier to surrender? After all, is it not the carefree giving of pieces of my soul that has brought me pain? Better to keep them safe within, where they cannot be lost.

Perhaps the answers to my quandary are within my grasp. Maybe if I just tried hard enough, I could find my dreams again, and more. But I have tried so hard for so long, and I do not feel any closer than I have ever been. Maybe there is nothing I can do. Maybe there is everything I must do. I don't know which frightens me more.

Again I ask of you, reader, only one thing:

DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS MESSSAGE.

I am about to attempt something potentially dangerous.

I will take three randomly generated literary tropes plus one randomly generated noun and write a story that uses them.

The tropes are:

Digging Yourself Deeper
Funny Background Event
We Gotta Stop Meeting Like This

The noun is: editor

This should be fun.

Maniacal laughter filled the streets of City A as thundered flickered in the sky. Bob the newscaster sighed. Looked like it was going to be yet another boring Tuesday. Dutifully, he took out his microphone, put on his best fake smile for the camera, and started broadcasting.

"Breaking News!" he exclaimed. "Heinous Supervillain 'The Editor' Launches An All Out Attack On City A! Your weather forecast; 100% chance of rain with a chance of - " he stepped carefully to the side as a bolt of lightning grounded itself next to him, "- thunder. May be a good idea to postpone that late-afternoon trip to the grocery store, folks!"

All of a sudden, lights began to flash against the undersides of the clouds as a heavily-muscled, handsome man glowing brilliantly rose into the air. "Editor!" he boomed out, his voice unaccountably audible throughout the city. "Your crimes against the citizens of City A end today!"

Bob the newscaster fought to keep his smile from becoming strained. "And look at that! Here comes Meta-Man, ready to save the day as usual. I'm sure you're all riveted to your seats to learn whether or not City A's favorite superperson has acquired a new power for this confrontation! Be sure to stay tuned; we'll be covering the battle live right after this break."

He exhaled as he cut off the recording, his mouth feeling strained from his forced smiles. He wouldn't be covering that, thank goodness. It was his lunch break now, and nothing- nothing- was allowed to violate his burrito at the Taco Treasury.

---

Nothing, he thought determinedly to himself as he munched his burrito at the one table still standing amidst the rubble. Absolutely nothing.

Behind him, he heard a soft yet familiar ahem. Slowly, he turned around to meet the gaze of the speaker.

"Alice," he said neutrally. "You just can't leave me alone, can you?"

Alice folded her arms. "Still the same self-centered twit, I see. Surprising as it may seem, my world does not revolve around you. In fact, I am here for my job."

"You work here?" said Bob through a mouthful of burrito. "Don't they usually hire younger people for the cooking? Uh, not that you're old, I mean. Just, you know, not a teenager anymore..." He trailed off into an awkward silence as Alice glared him down. In the distance, the squawk of a giant rubber chicken could be heard as the two superhumans duked it out in the sky.

"No, I don't work here," she snapped. "Even if I were interested in fast food , I'd have to be an idiot to work at any place you frequent. Is this not the tenth destroyed burrito store I have met you in?"

"Eighteenth, actually," replied Bob. "Or maybe nineteenth. I lose track."

Alice stared, momentarily nonplussed. "...nineteenth? How?"

"Coincidence," declaimed Bob confidently. Alice rubbed her eyes.

---

That's going to be it for today, I'm afraid!

Can you feel the fear
feel the fear
it is near
in the air
on the ground
all around
it is here
it is here.

Everywhere I go
be it fast
be it slow
I still know
let it pass
make it last
it is there
save nowhere
safe nowhere.

Hear the ticking clock
as the rock
of the wall
falls down
to the ground
as does all
in the end
once again.

Can you feel the fear?
It is here
It is near
I still know
As the rock
Falls down
Be it slow
In the end
Everywhere I go
Once again
It is there
Feel the fear.